Egress is the word. Depending on the state, age of the building it could meet egress in another way short of an opening (window) to the outside from the apartment. eg. A public hall with access to a fire stairs could meet egress.
It depends, bedrooms must have two ways to egress if there are no windows large enough for a firefighter with an airtank to get through there needs to be an exterior door.
Egress windows (or doors) are required in every habitable space. Especially in any room used for sleeping purposes, it will require its own egress window.
Apparently this is a rumor based on some federal guidelines for some kind of housing assistance type project back in the day, it's not always based on real code. Although it is an excellent idea to have two means of egress one of which is a window or door to the outside for each bedroom apparently that's not a real rule. There's also apparently no rule saying that a bedroom requires an actual closet.
Isn’t bedrooms requiring a closet just a real estate requirement for listings? It only counts as 3 bedrooms if they have closets? Maybe that’s made up too though, just what my parents told me
Where I live, a closet is one requirement for a room to qualify as a bedroom. However, I found that realtors tend to ignore that rule and call just about any room a bedroom to increase the price of the home.
That's not correct. It is required in most US states and many other countries for each bedroom to have at least one emergency egress directly to the outside. To quote the International Residential Code 2021 (which most states follow at minimum), R310:
Basements, habitable attics and every sleeping room shall have not less than one operable emergency escape and rescue opening. Where basements contain one or more sleeping rooms, an emergency escape and rescue opening shall be required in each sleeping room. Emergency escape and rescue openings shall open directly into a public way, or to a yard or court having a minimum width of 36 inches (914 mm) that opens to a public way.
And the definition of "Emergency escape and rescue opening" is:
An operable exterior window, door or other similar device that provides for a means of escape and access for rescue in the event of an emergency.
So, yes, bedrooms are typically required to have either a window or door that can function as an escape exit. I suppose in theory you could have only a door to the outside and no interior door, but that would be a bit odd.
In this case, "most" means every state except Wisconsin (pdf, page 3) uses the IRC as minimum standard. Wisconsin hasn't adopted the code entirely, but has similar requirements. They just allow for a few more exceptions/alternatives in some cases.
because there aren't people unconscious and sleeping in a room with 20 kindergarten kids while a fire spreads.
Are you seriously saying that if a fire breaks out in a kindergarten room and the fire blocks out the exit, there is NO need for a second entrance for firemen to break into and rescue the kids?? The kid are expected to magically teleport themselves to safety because they're not sleeping or unconscious? And there is zero chance that the smoke will make them unconscious and there is zero chance they will be too frightened to escape like John Rambo?
I'm saying that a spontaneous fire can be better responded to if a person is conscious, and that is the whole purpose behind fire alarms - to make people wake up or to make them aware so they can respond...
My point was that I would assume a classroom for kids would have the highest possible safety and fire standards. And if it was converted into a bedroom, assuming the windows were not boarded up, it should still be safe enough for adults
Actually your point is that you can't understand the difference between conscious and unconscious people, and are now grasping at straws to protect yourself. Adorable.
Actually your point is that you can't understand the difference between conscious and unconscious people, and are now grasping at straws to protect yourself. Adorable.
Bless your heart, sweetheart. I didn't realize that as per you, kids cannot become unconscious from smoke or get paralyzed by fright in case of a fire. Must be fun living in that brain of yours. What a delight.
Yes it is called Egress, must have a way out in an emergency other Than the door. And most windows do look to the outdoors unless it is some special exception like the main office etc.
Most places require anything called a bedroom to have at least one egress window to the exterior of the building or it's a fire code violation.
When people talk about converting shopping malls and other disused commercial buildings into residences, this is usually one of the biggest hurdles to those ideas. That and inadequate plumbing for showers and bathrooms.
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u/Mehhish Oct 20 '22
Isn't it a code violation to not have a single window to the outside world for an apartment? I could be wrong, and it might just be my state.